Flanged container having controlled corner folds



June 12, 1962 w. E. CHEELEY FLANGED CONTAINER HAVING CONTROLLED CORNERFOLDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 25, 1957 INVENTOR WILLIAM E. CHEELEYATTORNEY June 12, 1962 w. E. CHEELEY FLANGED CONTAINER HAVING CONTROLLEDCORNER FOLDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 25, 1957 INVENTOR WILLIAM E.CHEELEY ATTORNEY ite tats This invention relates to a new and improvedone-piece container and, more particularly, to a container having areinforcing flanged portion extending about its entire open perimeterand adapted to cooperate with a separate container cover. For purposesof illustration, the invention is disclosed as related to containersformed from a single thin sheet of aluminum foil, although, in itsbroader aspects, it may be employed with a wide variety of materials andsheet dimensions.

Heretofore, in the manufacture of shaped containers of this type, muchdifficulty has been experienced in providing an adequate flange foruniformly affixing the cover thereto and while simultaneouslymaintaining a smooth and attractive surface at the sides and corners ofthe container and at the same time avoiding the use of an inordinateamount of container material. Even when the container comprises a simpleopen top pan, the various factors of pan usage, such as filling,shipping, storage and the like, place a premium upon a flangedconstruction which provides stability to the article. With theintroduction of tear strip container covers, the need for properlyreinforced containers is emphasized all the more.

In general, one piece containers of this type, when having smooth sidesurfaces and using a minimum amount of sheet material, have heretoforehad a discontinuous flange about their open perimeter, thus resulting ina lack of transverse stability; and when having a continuous flange,have employed a large amount of sheet material which is folded insomewhat random fashion adjacent the corners resulting in wrinkled sidesurfaces.

It is an object of my invention to overcome these and othercharacteristic disadvantages of one-piece containers formed from sheetmaterial. For example, an object of my invention is to provide acontainer formed from a single sheet of material and having a continuousperiph eral top flange and corner portions disposed in a prescribedoverlapping fold pattern.

Another object is to provide a self-reinforcing container formed from asingle sheet of material and adapted to insure a secure seat for aseparate cover member.

Another object is to provide a container formed from a single sheet ofmaterial and folded at its corners in a manner to insure smooth surfacesat the sides of the container.

Another object is to provide a reinforced nestable container form d froma single sheet of material and employing a minimum of sheet material fora given container volume capacity.

Another object is to provide a container formed from a single sheet ofmaterial and having a continuous peripheral top flange seating aseparate cover member, incorporating a tear strip, the flange providinga self-rein forcing action during the opening of the closed container.

Another object is to provide a container for-med from a single sheet ofmaterial and formed from a single sheet of material and having cornerportions arranged in a prescribed overlapping fold pattern permitting aside wall of the container to be formed into a pouring spout fol lowingremoval of a portion of a cover member for the container.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent as thedescription proceeds and when considered atent in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings showing a presently preferred form of container.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank of sheet material for forming thecontainer.

FIG. 2 is a detail view in plan of a corner of the partially formedcontainer showing one arrangement of fold.

FIG. 3 is a detail view in plan of a corner of the partially formedcontainer showing a second arrangement of fold.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the container and its cooperating covermember, using a flat lateral flange.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the container of FIG. 4 showing one arrangementof tear strip for the container cover.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the container of FIG. 4 with the tear stripremoved and the container corners partially unfolded to provide apouring spout.

FIG. 7 is a detail view, to a larger scale showing a modified form ofcontainer flange;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a container employing the flangearrangement of FIG. 7;

PEG. 9 is a perspective view of an alternative flange arrangement withcover loosely seated thereon; and

FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 9 with the cover shown 'crimped into place.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a blank of thin materialsuitably scored lightly at its corner regions and which may be properlyregistered in forming apparatus, such as dies. The blank may be, forexample, an aluminum foil bearing printed matter on its outer surfacesdestined to form the smooth sides of the finished container.

The blank may also be a sheet comprising laminated sections and as usedherein the terms, blank or sheet, are to be interpreted as being eithera solid or laminated article. By means of a simple die operation uponthe blank, the container is formed with sloping sides, folded cornerpanels, and a continuous flange extending about its open periphery.After being filled in conventional filling apparatus, a suitable covermember, preferably having a tear strip incorporated therein, asdescribed in the copending application of William E. Cheeley, Serial No.586,804 filed May 23, 1956, for Container and Easy Opening CoverTherefor, is affixed to the container flange.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a suitable blank for forming a rectangularshaped container may comprise a sheet of aluminum foil having athickness in the order of 0.010 inch or less and including a rectangularcentral portion 10 for the bottom of the formed container. Side portions11 and 12 and end portions 13 and 14 provide the material for thesloping sides of the container. Joining the adjacent sides are cornerpanel portions adapted to be folded in the controlled manner later to bedescribed and forming a significant feature of my invention.

Merely as an example, a rectangular container is shown herein, althoughit will be understood that triangular, pentagonal or other polysidecontainers may also be formed without departing from the invention. Itwill be further understood that, in laying out the container blank froma much larger sheet of blank material, substantially all of the largersheet is usefully employed and that a given blank is not required to beoversize in order to provide flange material at its corners, all ofwhich contributes to reduction in waste and cost. As shown by thecontinuous dotted line 15 near the edge of the blank,

all material lying inside that line is available for forming the insidesurfaces of the container while all material outside that line isavailable for forming the container flange. Thus, the outer edges ofeach side and the entire base edge of the panels serve to define thecontainer flange which is uninterrupted throughout its length.

As is known, in the shaping of thin sheets, particularly, rupturingstresses may be generated by the die operation when insufficientmaterial is provided in various critical regions. I prefer therefore, incarrying out my invention, to employ the following practice inestablishing a corner fold pattern, although other practices may beemployed without departing from the spirit of the invention. As seen inFIG. 1, the intersecting edges of the container bottom are rounded asseen at 16 so that the apex of the folded panels will terminate slightlyabove the plane of the container bottom, as best seen at 17, FIG. 4.

From a focal point at the theoretical intersection of the edges of thebottom, at each corner, an arc is struck having a suitable radius,preferably a radius which will form an arc tangent to the outer edges ofthe adjacent sides of the container. This are forms the base of aplurality of major and minor fan shaped panels adapted for thecontrolled pattern of folding, thus to provide the corners of thecontainer and to have sufficient sheet material available at the panelbases to form a reinforced integral flange.

Score lines, as indicated, are lightly impressed in the appropriatesurfaces of the blank at each corner to facilitate the controlledfolding. The total area comprising the panel portions is subtended byangle a in each corner, the value of that angle depending upon the slopeangle ,8 (FIG. 4) of the container sides and the amount of reinforcingdesired by the overlapping of the several panels. Preferably, all anglesa are equal and all angles e are equal for a given container. Merely asan example, in one satisfactory form of a small container, sufificientflange material was available when on equalled 97 /2 and .13 equalled 9.

The amount of corner material subtended by angle or preferably isdivided into three equal sized, major panels 20, 21 and 22,respectively, having minor wing panels 23, 24; 24, 25; and 25, 26. Foroptimum reinforcement with a given amount of blank material, I prefer tohave each of the wing panels approximately half the size of the majorpanel so that when folded as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the adjacent foldededges abut against each other. Accordingly, each of the angles 7subtended by the midline of central major panel 21 and the outermostedges of the wing panels 23 and 26 are equal and represent one-half ofangle a.

With the foregoing in mind, reference now is made to FIGS. 2 and 3,showing two arrangements for folding the corners and prior to theformation of the integral flange. As seen in FIG. 2, the partiallyformed container has a sloping side 11 closely abutting against centralmajor panel 21 and a sloping side 13 abutting against the same majorpanel. In this arrangement, the outermost wing panels 23 and 26 lieoutside the respective sides 13 and 11 of the container and when theflange forming operation occurs, the container sides are bent outwardlyover those wing panels.

As an alternative, in FIG. 3 the major panels 20 and 22 are arrangedinteriorly of the container and the central major panel is disposedoutwardly. In this arrangement the outermost wing panels 23 and 26 lieinside the respective sides 13 and 11 and when the flange formingoperation occurs, the major panels 20 and 22, as well as the wing panels23 and 26, are bent outwardly over the container sides 11 and 13.

Following the controlled folding as exemplified by 'either of thesearrangements, the container blank material lying beyond dotted line(FIG. 1) is bent outwardly. Due to the self-adjusting action permittedby the overlapping panel sections, no wrinkling or deformation occurs onthe container sides 11, 12, 13 and 14 with the result that a smoothsurface is insured. This is particularly desirable when those sidescontain printed material. It

has also been found that containers of this type have greater salesappeal and that when wrinkling is avoided,

the contents may be more effectively removed from the container.

As the flanging operation occurs, any stretching stresses at the base ofthe several panels are relieved by the tendency of panels to shiftrelative to each other. When a simple lateral flange of the type seen inFIG. 4 is formed, the flange extending from the container sides iscontinued around the corners of the container as an integral section andthe flange formed by the overlapped major and minor panels is triplyreinforced at four points in each corner, as, for example, the threefold layer of side wall 11, wing panel 26 and major panel 22, whichforms one of these reinforced points. Accordingly, a container havingremarkable transverse stability is achieved.

As seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the thus described container may be readilyfitted with a container cover 30 having a peripheral portion ofrelatively wide dimension 31 and which may be affixed to the relativelywide flange 32 of the container by any suitable sealing or crimpingmeans. The cover conveniently may include a tear strip 33 which stripmay be of the type disclosed in my aforementioned application, saidstrip being shown as disposed transversely of the long axis of thecontainer adjacent one end. In the event that the container contents areflowable, after detaching the tear strip and a portion of the cover 30associated therewith, the remainder of the cover may be left in placeand the end wall 14 of the container pulled outwardly to form a pouringspout as seen in FIG. 6.

While the simple lateral flange 32 of the thus described container issatisfactory for many usages, I prefer to employ a container having aninwardly rolled flange or bead of the general type shown in FIG. 7 to alarger scale. The material at the edge of the blank in FIG. 1 lyingoutside line 15 is represented in FIG. 7 as comprising the material tothe left of the point 40 in wall 13. Any suitable arrangement of formingdies may be employed to shape the flange which terminates in a rolledhoop or bead section 41. Since adequate material is available at thecorners of the container to permit such a flange shape, this containermodification is preferred, in view of the stability provided by therolled flange. A finished container of this type is shown in FIG. 8 andis well adapted for the fitting of a tear strip type of cover thereon, amethod and apparatus for closing the same being well known in the art.It will be understood that when the bead 41 is formed at the corners ofthe container more than one layer of the blank will be formed into ahead, as explained above with reference to the four equipment into ashape where its uppermost portion is on a level with the adjoiningportion of the container such action, in effect, extends the containeroutwardly and forms a tight seal when the cover is closed thereabout.Flange 45 of the cover is initially extending outwardly so that it willbe easily seated into proper position on the container. When it is in aclosed position recess 46 rests on the shoulder 43. This recess in thecover permits great lateral stability and reinforces the closedcontainer from being crushed inwardly. Additionally, it may be notedthat the edge of the cover is in a higher plane than the center portionof the cover. The

container and cover are designed in such a manner that the bottomperiphery of the container will stack on top of the cover and beprevented from sliding off because of the outer portion of the coverbeing elevated to form a ridge.

Although I prefer to employ three major panels at each corner, anyuneven number of major panels of a greater number than two, each havinga minor wing panel attached thereto, can be used without departing fromthe invention, provided that the panels provide a reinforced andcontinuous flange.

Having thus described the invention and having illustrated certainpreferred forms of the same, it is not intended to limit the scope of myinvention necessarily thereto. On the contrary, such variations as maybe employed by those skilled in the art are intended to be included inthe scope of the following claim.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

A reinforced container made of aluminum foil and having a bottom and atleast three upstanding sides integral with said bottom, the upper endsof said sides having laterally projecting integral rim portions, and foreach adjacent pair of sides a corner made of a series of triangularpanels comprising alternating major and minor panels, all of said panelsand the corresponding ends of said pair of sides being delineated byradial fold lines converging at a common apex slightly above said bottomand said bottom having a rounded edge below said apex, said fold linesextending upward from said apex to the edge of the container, the majorand minor panels defining an arcuate corner and defining at their upperedges 2. laterally projecting integral rim continuation of the rimportions on said side walls, giving a continuous rim reinforcing thecontainer, said foil in said rim being continuous throughout theperiphery of the rim, the first and last panels of said series of panelsbeing minor panels integral with said pair of sides and an uneven numberof at least three of the panels in said series of panels being majorpanels alternating with intermediate minor panels, two of said majorpanels and the minor first and last panels of said series overlying saidpair of sides to the extent of said first and last panels of saidseries, thus aitording three-ply reinforcing struts at the ends of saidcorner and at the ends of said pair of sides, and at least one of saidmajor panels in the series overlapping two adjacent major panels of theseries to the extent of intermediate alternate minor panels, thusforming with said intermediate minor panels two corner reinformingstruts of three-ply thickness intermediate the three-ply struts at theends of the corner and corresponding pair of sides.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS501,248 Hillson July 11, 1893 672,275 Leighton Apr. 16, 1901 927,538Hothersall July 13, 1909 1,304,740 Carpenter Mar. 27, 1919 2,669,914.Swaine Feb. 23, 1954 2,673,003 Stewart Mar. 23, 1954 2,777,601 CheeleyJan. 15, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 103,316 Australia June 20, 1936 703,351Great Britain Feb. 3, 1954

